For The Last Time
by Higuchimon
Summary: Manjoume goes to ask Asuka out for the very last time, no matter what she says about it.


_**Legal Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters or situations presented here. Everyone will be returned to their proper place at the end of the story.  
**Story Title:** For The Last Time  
**Romance:** Manjoume x Asuka  
**Notes:** This takes place several years after they've graduated Duel Academia. This was written for the 15pairings Livejournal challenge and there will be eight more stories written for that._

He was going to ask her out again. He didn't do it very often. Only about once a month or so. Sometimes he went two or three months without asking. He tried to make it different every time he did, searching for the perfect way, the way that would finally get her just to agree to try to date him _once_. If it didn't work out, then maybe he could try to move on to someone else.

It was like dueling. You didn't know what strategy would work until you tried it, and if you never did, it hung in the back of your mind, wanting to be tested and tried. Just like Tenjoin Asuka always hung in the back of his mind, a clear and bright shining star shedding her light over everything in his life.

Manjoume couldn't remember a time any longer when he hadn't had some kind of gentle feelings for her. It hadn't been until close to the end of their first year at Duel Academia that he'd actually known what those feelings _were_, but he'd always treated her with a different level of respect than he did other people.

Of course, he hadn't actually respected most people back then, so it hadn't been too difficult. But that was a part of his life that was over with.

He made his plans for this carefully. It was the summer break, so both Asuka and himself were free. Her teaching job gave her several weeks off, and the Pros were on their break as well, letting people visit their families, friends, rebuild their decks, or whatever else it was they were going to do. In his case, it was visit Asuka and ask that question once again.

He wasn't just going to do this without some kind of a plan, of course. He'd always had something for them to do in mind whenever he'd asked her. They'd never done it, but he knew what they could've done.

Before he even left his hotel room, Manjoume checked out what was available in the area that a couple could do together. There were plenty of good restaurants. He researched their menus online, and made a note of which ones served food that he knew she liked especially. She would get to pick which one they went to, of course.

There was also a park with a huge lake in the middle of it that would be perfect for a moonlight stroll, and it just so happened that the moon was nearly full anyway. That would make it even better. He found a few other places that would be interesting to both of them, such as a dueling history museum and some stores that they could do a little shopping at.

This was going to be one of the most perfect dates that ever had occurred in the history of time. If she said yes.

Most people would have wondered if it were possible she would say no. Manjoume knew better. She'd been turning him down for years, after all. But each rejection was quiet and polite, never hurting his feelings beyond the fact she said no. And she made it plain that she _did_ like him as a friend. She just had never been interested in anything else. That was one reason he only asked infrequently, and had been thinking about giving up on asking altogether.

But he still wanted that one date first, just to _know_. Just to have it firmly set in his mind that it wasn't going to work. He didn't doubt that he would always love her. But if he could say to himself that they'd tried and it hadn't worked, then he could maybe, _maybe_ find someone else to love. He didn't know who or when or even if, but he could move on, at least.

"Hey, big brother!" Oh, great. Just what he didn't need to see or hear. Not that the Ojamas weren't useful when he was dueling, but when he was making plans to see Asuka and ask her out yet again, they weren't exactly tops on his list of most interesting people, spirits, or whatever to call them.

"What do you three want?" he grumped, going over the list of restaurants one more time. He wanted to be certain he'd made the right choices. He hoped that her tastes in food hadn't changed too much since the last time they'd talked. He'd hate to miss out on an option just because he hadn't kept up with her like he felt he should.

"So you're going to ask her out again, huh?" Ojama Yellow asked, hovering over his shoulder so he could see the restaurant list as Manjoume worked on it. "Think she'll turn you down again?"

He really didn't need this right now. He couldn't think of too many times he did need this, to be honest. But right now it was a _really_ bad time.

"I don't know." He didn't bother lying to the Ojamas most of the time. What was the point in it? They hung around him more than his own skin did half the time. They always knew what was going on with him.

Ojama Black moved down closer to the other list of what they could do after they had dinner. "Think she'll like any of this?"

"I don't _know_." That was why he was asking her in the first place! So he would know! So they'd both know! He wanted to know if it was worth giving up on her, and he hoped that she wanted to know if he was worth trying for. He didn't even know half of the time which he wanted to be true. He just knew that he really, really wanted all of this to be over with so he'd know _something_.

He wasn't really in the mood to discuss any of this with them, though. Before Ojama Green could put in his opinion, he grabbed all three of them. "And don't bother coming back out until later!" he growled as he stuffed them back into their cards. He doubted they'd actually listen. They _were_ the Ojamas, the masters of showing up when he least wanted them. And when he most needed them, when he was dueling. But while this was like a duel, it wasn't one, and he didn't need their help or advice.

Besides, he'd never seen _them_ with a date.

He checked over his lists one more time, then stuffed them into a pocket of his black jacket before he got up and headed out of the hotel. He wondered sometimes what it would be like to have a permanent home instead of going from hotel to hotel due to the dueling season. He'd thought about buying a house or an apartment, but he just hadn't gotten around to it yet. He didn't even know where he wanted to live. It didn't even seem worth it, not while he was still in the Pros. He knew there were some pro duelists who had their own place already…he knew Edo Phoenix's quite well, after all. But that wasn't what _he_ wanted at the moment.

But maybe…if things ever worked out with Asuka…it would be kind of nice to bring her home to a place of his own instead of a rented hotel room. Even as good as this hotel was, and it _was_ good, he wouldn't have anything less, it wasn't really where he'd want to spend time with her in if he had the chance.

His car was waiting at the front when he came out, and he slid inside and started off quickly. Most duelists he knew of with his resources would've had a limo to drive them where they wanted to go. He did, too: when he was dueling. But when it was the off-season and when he was going to see Asuka, he took care of his own driving. He got there at his own pace and if he wanted to take the long way around in order to build up his nerve for what he hoped wouldn't be yet another rejection, then he could do so.

Asuka had a modest apartment in a good section of town where she stayed when she wasn't teaching at the Academy. He knew her phone number, but he hadn't wanted to call and hear her saying she was going to be somewhere else. Besides, spontaneity was always good, wasn't it?

He parked near her building and spent the next few minutes concentrating on what he was going to tell her when he asked her out this time. He didn't want it to be the last time. He couldn't _bear_ for it to be the last time.

With all of his hope in his hands and heart, he walked inside and headed up to her second floor apartment. He knew just which door was hers, and it wasn't that far from the elevator. But no matter what, it appeared to be a walk of a thousand miles, and the distance grew with every step that he took. As much as he didn't _want_ this to be the last time, and as much as he wanted to try one date before he tried to move on, he had the sinking feeling that if she did say no this time, he wouldn't be able to ask her again. Even he could only take so many rejections. And if she were never going to say yes, why keep on asking and hurting the both of them?

_Yeah. This **will** be the last time._ It hurt to think it. It hurt to feel it. But he thought it might be the kind of hurt he could get over.

Maybe. Someday. He hoped.

He knocked on her door, doing his best to sound as if his stomach weren't in knots and his throat wasn't dry. He wasn't sure how a knock could sound like either of those things, but he tried anyway.

There were footsteps coming from the other side of the door and he swallowed briefly. That was her. He could recognize her step no matter what. It had been nearly four months since the last time he'd seen her, and he would have recognized it even if it had been four years or four decades or four centuries.

"Manjoume." Asuka smiled as she opened the door, and his stomach went from knots to butterflies, dancing about as that warm, calming presence of hers swept all over him again. He forgot just how good she could make him feel. The thought of never seeing her again with even that small form of hope wasn't to be borne. So he didn't think about it right now. He would think about her voice and the fact she was asking him in. It wasn't the first time she'd done that, but it was something to think about other than that this might be the last time.

The small talk flew right over his head. He thought she'd said something about her classes and how well they were doing, and he also thought that he'd said something about how his tour in the Pro Leagues was doing. But none of it really made any impression on his mind whatsoever.

Finally, he found the nerve he'd been holding onto. He wasn't sure if he'd been delaying out of fear or anticipation or what. He just knew that now was the right time to say it.

"I know I've asked you this before," he started, trying not to stare too much at her. It wasn't that she wasn't beautiful, but he had to say what he had to say. If he got caught up in her eyes, he didn't think he could. "And you always say no. And if you say no this time…I don't think I'll ask you again. Ever. I'll still be your friend, I know you want that, but I won't ask you out anymore if you say no this time."

He spared a quick look at her, and she was just looking back at him, that familiar smile on her lips. So he kept on talking. "Will you go out with me, please, Tenjoin-kun? There's a dueling history museum a few miles from here, we could go there. And there's lots of restaurants that we could go to as well. If you don't like it, then I _really_ won't ask you another time. I promise."

"Yes, Manjoume."

Manjoume kept on talking, what she'd said not really registering in his mind. "I really mean it this time. If you say no, or if you say yes and you don't like it, then this'll be the last time I _ever_ ask you out." He would've crossed his heart, if he'd been five instead of twenty-five.

"Manjoume, I said yes."

He kept on talking, promising, reiterating it over and over, wanting her to be positive that he'd never darken her doorway in this way again should she turn him down.

"_Jun_!"

Manjoume's mouth closed with a snap. She …she'd called him…but she'd _never_ called him that. He turned and stared at her. She looked about ready to smack him, but she was also smiling. "You said…"

"I said, yes. I'll go out with you."

For once in his life, Manjoume had no idea of what to say. Then he did. He all but fell to his knees in shock and gratitude. "Thank you. Thank you. _Thank you_." If she'd asked as a condition beforehand that he slit a vein for a donation of blood, he would've done so in that moment without a thought of denial. "Would tomorrow night be good for you?"

"All right." Asuka nodded again, and Manjoume knew in that moment there was no reason for him to stand up: he could've quite easily floated out the door. She'd said yes. One way or the other, he was quite certain he'd asked her out for the last time.

And he'd never been happier about that.

**The End**


End file.
